Xc skiing in Finland

If one wanted to go xc skiing in Finland where would be a good resort / area . Will be flying from London, not fussed if we need a connector from Helsinki.
Mrs Kilo wants to ski , I will not do fat bike hire or similar would be an added bonus

https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2022/jan/22/skier-captures-spectacular-northern-lights-display-in-finland-video

Reminds me of this from the other week, flippin amazing northern lights in Finland. In fact it’s mind blowing

We went to Ruka 2 years ago, it’s a huge sport over there. Ruka has a purpose built XC area as well as all the local trails. Well worth looking to see what you think.
“ Rukatunturi is a 490 metres high fell and a ski resort in Kuusamo, Finland. Apart from downhill skiing, there are over 500 km of cross-country skiing tracks.”

With regards to the Northern Lights, we went out on snowmobiles to see it…..that was the only time on the entire trip when it felt really cold. From memory it was -23, heading up the Russian border further North.

Where I lived in Joensuu there were ski trails which were lit around the town, Helsinki just had loads of snow so out towards Vanta there are lots of trails.

Ryanair flies to Tampere and you will have all sorts of trails and skating on the lake.

I went to Saariselkä. Supposedly very famous in Finland for xc skiing. Snowboarding wasn’t bad too.

Find the beer made from milk of you go there.

When are you going? I’m hoping to go to Levi at Easter for a mix of Alpine and XC. It’s not so great there now as it can be pretty cold.

Ruka is a nice resort, I’ve been for the alpine but loads of xc all around. You might want to be careful of the Russian border at the moment.

We’re off to Levi in a couple of weeks time, quite a bit further north than Ruka so hopefully might get Northern lights.

Thanks all, will start looking.

I had a great time doing XC and Alpine in Levi (albeit 20 years ago), can wholeheartedly recomend it, but would suggest you check in advance about fat bike hire. Saw the northern lights most evenings.

Note that at the local swimming pool, the steam room was mixed, both men and women without a stitch on, didn’t worry me, but a bit of a surprise……………

Went a while back, did about 5 days in Saariselkä and then same in Inari. Both places were brilliant for beginner a d intermediate xc skiing. So many trails and great facilities.

Saariselkä was more like a resort town, Inari less so.

Finally a thread I have enough information on.. For purely XC skiing I’d go to Saariselkä (Ivalo airport is ~ 30km away) or Ylläs (Kittilä airport is ~ 30km away).
Levi is option too (15km from Kittilä airport) , it is bit of poor mans frozen Las Vegas but skiing tracks are ok and couple of km’s away you are already in nature. Unfortunately mixed steam room section in spa is no longer there after renovation. 🙂
Vuokatti in east is good location too. Ruka is ok too but I prefer more northern areas.

Helsinki area is actually pretty good location at the moment, there are over 500km of xc -tracks after snow dump this weekend. Season might last a week or 2 months, hard to predict here.

One other tip – the schools winter holidays are spread over calendar weeks 8, 9 and 10, first one being the busiest and this affects availability of hotels and cottages.

“Mrs Kilo wants to ski” is the key info here. Finland is riddled with XC ski tracks. But you need some in an “alpine” skiing resort, which narrows it down a lot!
So listen to @mmannerr basically.
We’ve been to Ruka. XC was varied and extensive. But I’m not familiar with any of the alternatives.
Northern Lights? When we went to Ruka we never saw the sky. Or anything more than 100m away from us. The murk didn’t spoil it though.

(or did you mean Mrs Kilo is the cross country skier?) Ignore me if so.

All places mentioned have fat bike rentals available but this place near Saariselkä is probably perhaps best in the country: https://rolloutdoors.com/en/kiilopaa-en/kiilopaa-fatbike-trail-system/

Thanks for the further replies, Mrs Kilo is the xc skier, last few years she had gone to Austria but is thinking about a change. I hate skiing, boarding, etc – snowmobiles are just about acceptable!

Levi has a downhill skiing place as well as XC trails around. Plus all the other stuff you can do like snowmobiles, snow shoeing etc.

I hired an electric fat bike for the afternoon when I was there, was ace. Tricky not getting lost with a really rubbish map, I was making arrows in the snow so I could find my way back just in case! Get a map that you can read. I can read maps, just not work out where I was and where I wanted to go/had been in Finnish. Added some excitement considering it was dark and rather chilly 🙂

I could be well and truly talking nonsense here. But apart from the XC trails, the woods were waist deep with snow.
Can you ride fat bikes on the XC trails? I never even thought to ask when I was there.

This might fit the bill then: https://singletrackworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/finland-its-not-all-about-snow-okay-mostly/

The quietest place I have ever been. XC ski trails everywhere double up as fat bike trails, or you can snowshoe, or snowmobile. If you could stay in a hut it would be magical. One of those places I’d never have got to without being at stw, but I’d go back in a flash. Though, I’d take a bottle of something alcoholic with me!

We have been to Levi several times, we have never xc skied (although I have always fancied it). There are loads of xc trails, they look amazing weaving through the forests.

Zero point (the main ski hire center situated at the bottom of the front slopes) had fat bikes to hire on our last visit in 2019.

We have been 6 times and only seen the Northern lights twice, we had a good showing in 2019.

Most ski centres now have separate fat bike routes and xc ski tracks are not always allowed nor should be ridden on.
Depending on snow conditions, it is possible to even for fat bike tyres leave nasty ruts on ski tracks so some consideration for other trail users is recommended. On harder snow conditions there are no issues.
And I would stay away from snow mobile routes near ski centres, not every rider has control of the vehicle.

Unfortunately mixed steam room section in spa is no longer there after renovation. 🙂

That’s me not going back then………… 🙂

Thread resurrection! And a niche question.

Mrs Kilo is off to Rovaniemi on Saturday (fortunately I am off to Tirana on Sunday).
Is there a good resource for finding cross country ski guides in Finland?

Just go to any vaguely ski type area and there will be marked routes and pisted double track trails so almost impossible to get lost.

Just to add to the earlier tips – we went to Kiilopaa last month and rode the fatbike trails groomed by the fabulous people at Roll Outdoors. Also xc ski, backcountry xc and snowshoeing from the door. Very chilled and user friendly place, sort of like a trail centre with attached forest lodge hotel and cabins. Much less of a ski resort than Sariselka. Easy flights/ bus transfer from Ivalo.

Just to add the Finns are great no-nonsense but friendly people and we generally found it the least expensive of all the Nordic countries.

And staying at a place away from resorts means you just wander 5 mins out the door for aurora watching (rather than wasting time and money with safaris or taxi rides somewhere dark).

Mrs Kilo is off to Rovaniemi on Saturday (fortunately I am off to Tirana on Sunday).
Is there a good resource for finding cross country ski guides in Finland?

XC ski trails start right in the centre, down by the river or you can take a short bus trip over the Lumberjack Bridge to Ounasvaarna where all the main ski areas are. Ask at tourism centre at Lordi Square, or one of the ski shops.

Here are price lists couple for rentals on two places: https://rentle.store/santasport/l/vuokraamo/shop and https://ounasvaara.fi/en/hinnasto/?e=hiihtokoulu
First one is near the tracks with nice view, second one is at ski centre where there are flat tracks and fairly demanding race tracks too. Both are on the same hill.

edit. Getting guide might be tricky but perhaps they have some available at Ounasvaara Ski Centre.

the Finns are great no-nonsense but friendly people

I’d second that, but in my experience (admittedly a while ago) they don’t tend to say much, which can be misinterpreted. We used to think the cafe / bar fell silent when we walked in, but it was just that they’re not normally very chatty people. They were however very helpful and friendly.

Thanks all, made some local enquiries. It’s a bit like going mountain biking somewhere completely new; you can find loads of the trails but having someone local who can string them together to get the best day out is a bonus and going off piste is also a no – no on her own.

Is there a good resource for finding cross country ski guides in Finland?

It’s been a few years since I was there but there were several ski shops in town – Rovaniemi is the sort of northern hub tourist town for trips into the Arctic Circle so there’s loads there. Any of the ski shops will help with rental, sales, guiding and lessons.

Can’t remember the place we went to but they sorted me out with some skis at a very reasonable price and offered half day and day trips out, some with snowmobile support. Friendly and they all spoke perfect English.

I’ve just come back from dog sledding

I used a company called artisan travel. They know the area well so may be able to help with skiing advice.

We stayed at a place called Harriniva. Flew in to Katila. Loads of options in that area. Ski tracks everywhere. If you know what you are doing you’d be fine getting a map and heading off.

Muonio ski trail map